Fantasy sports engine for recommending optimum team rosters

ABSTRACT

Fantasy sports recommendation engines are disclosed that automatically recommend roster changes for fantasy teams including substitution of active and inactive players, adding available players, waiving current players, trading players, etc. based on historical and predictive information to maximize competitiveness of fantasy sports teams. Fantasy sports recommendation engines may also provide detailed comparative information for recommended roster changes.

FIELD

This application relates generally to management of fantasy sports teams, and particularly to fantasy sports team management with software.

BACKGROUND

Fantasy sports are played and enjoyed by tens of millions of people each year around the world for every major team sport. Many users create and manage multiple teams in different fantasy leagues and sports to maximize enjoyment and the possibility of winning. Some fantasy leagues are free with no reward other than respect for winning, while others require a buy-in and pay monetary or other rewards for winning the league or performing well in certain categories.

A multitude of data is available for each fantasy player and team from a large number of sources. This large amount of information often makes team management very time consuming and sometimes difficult, especially for fantasy team owners that want to maximize the competitiveness of their team or teams. Some fantasy sports team owners will pay additional fees to access specialized fantasy sports data attempting to get an advantage over other team owners in their league. Additionally, fantasy sports team owners can spend many hours researching individual players for possible changes to their rosters to improve their teams as the season progresses. For example, if a key player on a fantasy team is injured or failing to produce, a fantasy team owner wanting to remain competitive will find a replacement player either temporarily until the player is able to play again, or replacing the injured player with a different player. The process of researching and changing team members can be very time consuming.

SUMMARY

Fantasy sports recommendation engines are disclosed that provide a fantasy sports team owner with player action recommendations to maximize competitiveness of the fantasy sports team and save time and effort in managing fantasy sports teams. Some embodiments of fantasy sports recommendation engines according to the present invention can include a fantasy sports recommendation engine operating on one or more computers connected via the internet, and configured to exchange information via the internet with other computing devices.

Embodiments of fantasy sports recommendation engines can include software running on the one or more computers. In such embodiments, the software compares active players for each position on a roster of a user's fantasy team against a list of available players for each position to provide a proposed optimized active roster having a predicted optimum point score, and automatically provide at least one player action recommendation to the user based on the proposed optimized active roster.

In some embodiments, the fantasy sports recommendation engine can also automatically provide the user updated player action recommendations based on information when new information is available about at least one of the active players and the available players. The software can also compare active players for each position on the roster of the user's fantasy team against a list of available players for each position also taking into account a second user's fantasy team, to provide a second proposed optimized active roster having a predicted optimum point score for the user's roster in a game between the user's roster and the second user's fantasy team. The list of available players can include inactive players on the roster, or any other available players, such as free-agent players, waiver-wire players, or players offered for trade.

The player action recommendation can include recommending replacing an active player with an inactive player on the user's roster or any other available player. The player action recommendation can also include historical performance information and predictive performance information, and a comparison of predicted performance between an active player and a recommended player.

Embodiments of fantasy sports recommendation engines can change the user's fantasy team roster based on user acceptance of any player action recommendation. The user may also request a player action recommendation.

In some embodiments, a fantasy sports recommendation engine can function by first recognizing a user log-on to the engine, identifying a fantasy sports team belonging the user, and locating data associated with the fantasy sports team. The fantasy sports recommendation engine can then compare each active player on the roster of the fantasy sports team against a list of available players for each position based on historical and predictive information to provide a proposed optimized active roster having a predicted optimum point score, formulate at least one player action recommendation based on the comparing, and then provide the user with the at least one player action recommendation. The fantasy sports recommendation engine can also automatically provide the user with updated player action recommendations based on information when new information is available about at least one of the active players and the available players.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following description can be better understood in light of Figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a hardware system for an exemplary fantasy sports recommendation engine;

FIG. 2 is a flow-chart of an exemplary method of an exemplary fantasy sports recommendation engine;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary screen shot of an exemplary fantasy sports recommendation engine; and

FIG. 4 is flow-chart of an exemplary method of an exemplary fantasy sports recommendation engine.

Together with the following description, the Figures demonstrate and explain the principles of fantasy sports recommendation engines and methods for using and employing the fantasy sports recommendation engines. In the Figures, the size, number and configuration of components may be exaggerated for clarity. The same reference numerals in different Figures represent the same component.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description supplies specific details in order to provide a thorough understanding. Nevertheless, the skilled artisan would understand that embodiments of fantasy sports recommendation engines and associated methods of using the engines can be implemented and used without employing these specific details. Indeed, exemplary embodiments and associated methods can be placed into practice by modifying the illustrated units and associated methods and can be used in conjunction with any other devices and techniques conventionally used in the industry. For example, while the description below generally focuses on an embodiment for use with fantasy football, the engine and associated methods could be equally applied with other fantasy sport, such as baseball, basketball, soccer, etc.

One exemplary system 10 for implementing a fantasy sports recommendation engine is illustrated in FIG. 1. System 10 can include user computer 14 in connection with one or more servers, such as servers 15, 16, 17 and one or more databases, such as database 18 through internet 12. A fantasy sports recommendation engine can be implemented as one or more different software modules, each module working with the other modules to provide various embodiments of fantasy sports recommendation engines.

In some embodiments, the fantasy sports recommendation engine can be present entirely on a single computer, such as user computer 14. In other embodiments, the fantasy sports recommendation engine can be a web-based application located on one or more of servers 15, 16, 17, or can be modules located on a combination of any of the components shown in FIG. 1. In some embodiments, one or more of the servers can be a server for a predictive fantasy sports service, or can be a server for a fantasy sports league. Similarly, database 18 can be a sports statistics database. The fantasy sports recommendation engine can operate with the various computing components using PHP and MySQL framework. Of course, embodiments of fantasy sports recommendation engines according to the present invention can physically reside and operate in any configuration sufficient to provide the features and services as described below and illustrated.

As shown in FIG. 2 embodiments of an exemplary fantasy sports recommendation engine can provide management and recommendations for users to manage one or more fantasy sports teams. Once the user logs in, recommendations can be provided to the user for each team owned by the user and recognized by the engine. The recommendations may be provided and identified for each team separately, or a single screen may provide the user an opportunity to select recommendations for a specific team.

In some embodiments, a fantasy sports recommendation engine can provide recommendations for activating benched or inactive players by comparing the likely point output for the next week of an inactive player with an active player based on data related to both players. For example, Player A may be a quarterback for Team X playing Team Y next week and on the active roster of a fantasy team. Player B may be a quarter back for a different team having a different opponent. While player A may generally average more points than Player B, Player A may historically perform very poorly against Team Y, or teams that have defenses similar to Team Y, indicating that Player B is likely to have a better performance week than Player A. Of course any number of different information can be used in the comparative determination, such as injury reports, bye weeks, personnel decisions, etc.

The comparative analysis between players can be achieved through comparison of historical statistics as well as predictive factors based on current-year performance, or recent performance, along with any pertinent information for the current week, such as injury information, a decision by a coach to split time between two players, a player being traded to a different team, a player's personal troubles, etc., and the points structure of a particular fantasy league. The statistics can be gathered from any of the various sports statistics data sources. Similarly, the comparative analysis can be acquired using one or more of various comparative algorithms, either internal and proprietary to the fantasy sports recommendation engine, or of pre-existing algorithms.

Thus, in some embodiments, the fantasy sports recommendation engine can determine if an inactive bench player is likely to out-perform an active player, and then generate an appropriate recommendation to the fantasy team user. The user can then accept the recommendation or review information relating to each player to determine if the recommendation will be accepted. For example, upon accessing detailed information for the recommended transaction, a user can quickly notice that active Player A will have a bye week upcoming and activate bench Player B to avoid losing points for that position for the next week.

In addition to recommending active and inactive players, embodiments of fantasy sports recommendation engines can provide recommendations to drop, add, waive, or trade players on the team roster for available players. Available players can include unclaimed or free-agent players, players waived from other teams, or players offered for trade by other team managers in the particular league. In some leagues and systems, available players can have various designations depending on the rules of the league or system. Each player on the user's roster can be compared to the available players and a recommended roster change provided to the user based on the comparison.

For example, productive running back Player 1 on the user's roster may be injured and may be unable to play for several weeks of the season. Running back Players 2 and 3 may be on the bench roster. The fantasy sports recommendation engine can then compare each of the players based on available information and algorithm employed to determine a recommendation. The fantasy sports recommendation engine can then perhaps recommend benching Player 1 due to his likely value after recovering from the injury, activating player 2, and replacing Player 3 with Player 9, who was just waived by another user and determined to be likely more productive in the future than Player 3.

In some embodiments, multiple players can be suggested to replace a roster player. For example, if Player 1 is injured and will not be playing for the remainder of the season, several choices for replacing Player 1 on the roster can be provided, allowing the user to select a most-desired player from among different choices. In some embodiments, the fantasy sports recommendation engine can recommend a player with lower predicted weekly points over a higher-predicted player based on information such as bye weeks, as it is not useful to have a back-up player for a particular position that shares the same bye week with the active player, which may result in no points for that position during the bye week.

A sample, by no means exhaustive, of recommended roster changes that may be provided to a user for consideration is shown in FIG. 3. A user can be provided with a table of players, positions, and recommended replacements along with projected points improvements and action choices such as acquire, add, or trade. In some embodiments, a user can click on a proposed trade to see more detailed information such as season statistics and points for each player, bye weeks, projected points for individual future weeks or total season, or other information. Additionally, the fantasy sports recommendation engine may also provide a suggested trade value based on the predicted performance, value to the user's team, and likely value of the player targeted for trade from the other team.

Embodiments of fantasy sports recommendation engines may also provide likely points productivity for various time periods, such as the next game, next month, season, etc. Similarly, once an action choice is selected, a user can then have an additional opportunity to determine if they want a detailed comparison, or to confirm the action.

With each recommendation accepted by the user, the fantasy sports recommendation engine can re-evaluate the roster and determine if additional recommendations should be provided to the user. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, this process can repeat, depending on the availability of new information and user selections. In some embodiments, the user can request recommendations to start the recommendation engine as desired rather than waiting for the engine to automatically provide recommendations. For example, a user may change his mind about a suggested roster change that was previously rejected. By requesting a recommendation, the user can be provided an additional opportunity to make roster changes.

In some embodiments, the fantasy sports recommendation engine can provide a detailed comparison of the upcoming match-up against the upcoming opposing fantasy team, and can make roster suggestions based on position-by-position and team-by-team matchups. For example, user may have a productive wide receiver playing for team K and user's opponent may have the quarterback for team K on her roster. In such cases, it may be desirable make sure to play that wide receiver so that a good performance by the other user's quarterback will be offset by corresponding points by the receiver.

In another example, user may have an active defense from a team that is playing against a productive running back for user's opponent. The user may want to bench the defense for a different defense if the opponent's running back is likely to score significant points. Of course there are many match-ups and strategies that can be employed by a user based on recommendations by a fantasy sports recommendation engine according to the present invention.

In some embodiments, the fantasy sports recommendation engine can run in the background of other programs, suggesting changes when information suggests that a change can be useful, or when fantasy sports websites are accessed, allowing the user to have the recommendation information when the user in actively managing his team or teams through a particular website. In some embodiments, the fantasy sports recommendation engine can be a feature in a comprehensive fantasy sports management system that allows users to manage all of their teams, even from different hosts, leagues, services, etc.

In some embodiments, players can be recommended to a user based on the successful combinations of players owned by other fantasy team managers. For example, fantasy teams that have both players I and J may tend to be more successful as players I and J tend compliment the other's performance making the combination more valuable that each individual separately. Thus, the engine can recommend adding player J if player I is on the roster. Similarly, players may be recommended that may not provide points benefits to user's team, but would deny points benefits to other teams. For example, user may have a very good quarterback, but may be able to acquire a back-up quarterback better than opposing teams' quarterbacks.

In addition to any previously indicated modification, numerous other variations and alternative arrangements can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this description, and appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and arrangements. Thus, while the information has been described above with particularity and detail in connection with what is presently deemed to be the most practical and preferred aspects, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications, including, but not limited to, form, function, manner of operation and use can be made without departing from the principles and concepts set forth herein. Also, as used herein, examples are meant to be illustrative only and should not be construed to be limiting in any manner. 

1. A fantasy sports recommendation engine operating on one or more computers connected via the internet, and configured to exchange information via the internet with other computing devices, the fantasy sports recommendation engine comprising: software running on the one or more computers, the software being configured to: compare active players for each position on a roster of a user's fantasy team against a list of available players for each position to provide a proposed optimized active roster having a predicted optimum point score; and automatically provide at least one player action recommendation to the user based on the proposed optimized active roster.
 2. The fantasy sports recommendation engine of claim 1, the software being further configured to: automatically provide the user updated player action recommendations when new information is available about at least one of the active players and the available players that affects the predicted optimum point score.
 3. The fantasy sports recommendation engine of claim 1, wherein the software is further configured to compare active players for each position on the roster of the user's fantasy team against a list of available players for each position, also taking into account a second user's fantasy team so as to provide a second proposed optimized active roster having a predicted optimum point score for the user's roster in a game between the user's roster and the second user's fantasy team.
 4. The fantasy sports recommendation engine of claim 1, wherein the list of available players includes inactive players on the roster.
 5. The fantasy sports recommendation engine of claim 4, wherein the player action recommendation includes recommending replacing an active player with an inactive player.
 6. The fantasy sports recommendation engine of claim 1, wherein the player action recommendation includes historical performance information and predictive performance information.
 7. The fantasy sports recommendation engine of claim 1, wherein the player action recommendation includes a comparison of predicted performance between an active player and a recommended player.
 8. The fantasy sports recommendation engine of claim 1, wherein the comparing includes comparing inactive players on the roster to players not on the roster to provide an optimized roster for active and inactive players.
 9. The fantasy sports recommendation engine of claim 8, wherein the player action recommendation includes recommending replacing an inactive roster player with an available player not on the roster.
 10. The fantasy sports recommendation engine of claim 8, wherein the player action recommendation includes historical performance information and predictive performance information.
 11. The fantasy sports recommendation engine of claim 8, wherein the player action recommendation includes a comparison of a predicted performance of an active player and a recommended player.
 12. The fantasy sports recommendation engine of claim 1, wherein the software is further configured to change the user's fantasy team roster based on acceptance by the user of one or more of the least one player action recommendation.
 13. The fantasy sports recommendation engine of claim 1, wherein the software is further configured to allow for user acceptance or rejection of the at least one player action recommendation.
 14. The fantasy sports recommendation engine of claim 1, wherein the at least one player action recommendation includes player action recommendations for two or more players.
 15. The fantasy sports recommendation engine of claim 1, wherein the software is further configured to allow the user to request a player action recommendation.
 16. A method of providing fantasy sports recommendations with a fantasy sports recommendation engine running on at least one computer, the method comprising: recognizing a user log-on to the fantasy sports recommendation engine; identifying a fantasy sports team belonging to the user; locating data associated with the fantasy sports team; comparing each active player on a roster of the fantasy sports team against a list of available players for each position based on historical and predictive information to provide a proposed optimized active roster having a predicted optimum point score; formulating at least one player action recommendation based on the comparing; and providing the user with the at least one player action recommendation.
 17. The method of providing fantasy sports recommendations of claim 16, further comprising: automatically providing the user with updated player action recommendations based on information when new information is available about at least one of the active players and the available players. 